Never miss a local story.

Remember when it took five minutes for the TV to warm up and it was in black-and-white. When nearly everyone’s mom was home when school got out. When a quarter was a decent allowance.

When you’d reach into a muddy gutter for a penny. When your mom wore nylons that came in two pieces. When all your male teachers wore neckties and females had their hair done everyday and wore high heels.

When going around the corner seemed so far away and going downtown seemed like going somewhere. Climbing trees, making forts, backyard shows, lemonade stands, cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, staring up at clouds, jumping on the bed, pillow fights, ribbon candy, angel hair on the Christmas tree, Jackie Gleason, white gloves, walking to the movie theater, running until you were out of breath, not stepping on a crack or you’d break your mother’s back, laughing so hard that your stomach hurt. Remember that?

When the worst thing you could do at school was to flunk a test or chew gum in class. And the prom was in the auditorium and you danced to live music. When they threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed — and they did! Being sent to the principal’s office was nothing compared to the fate a student awaited at home when word arrived they got into trouble at school.

Remember when stuff from the store was sold without safety caps and hermetic seals because no one had tried to poison a perfect stranger.

With all of our progress, don’t you wish, just once, that you could slip back in time and savor the slower pace and share it with the children of today?